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Monday, February 6, 2012

Cold in Kabul

A very troubling article was published in The New York Times on Saturday. It has been an unusually cold winter in Afghanistan, and, sadly, children have been freezing to death. You can read the article here. In case you've ever had moments where you doubt that what we do can possibly make a difference, here is your answer.

I am now even more motivated to finish my projects in progress and get them to San Francisco by February 29.

3 comments:

Thank you for posting this Elizabeth. I'm concerned that our knitting for A4A won't make a difference in these cases like these. It doesn't seem as though a4a projects get distributed to the refugee camps, where these children's deaths occurred, am I wrong? And all of the children were under 5, most frequently it seems they died because they couldn't keep blankets wrapped around themselves at night. We are knitting for older children for the most part. Is there any way for a4a to connect more directly with these camps?

I'm posting here exactly what I wrote in reply to a similar concern on Ravelry:

The reason that A4A works as well as it does is that before Ann even initiates a campaign, she has connected with an organization in Afghanistan that tells her specific needs and is able to distribute the items directly to the kids once they are received. The things we’re mailing to San Francisco now are not likely to get to the kids until early next winter; that’s just the way it is. The newspaper article is horrifying and heartbreaking, and all of us want to get warm things to THOSE kids, NOW. It’s not possible. And things sent randomly, without going through channels such as those Ann sets up, are highly unlikely ever to reach the kids you want them to go to. My heart wants to keep everybody warm, and it’s hard to confront the fact that I can’t. So I have decided that as long as I am helping some kid, any kid, I am happy. And I can assure you that the kids who get the mittens I make or the sweater Jenny makes, or the sock Pat makes do not have a huge stockpile of handknits from us. Most don’t even have a second pair of socks. The need is huge, so I keep knitting.

THE BASICS

afghans for Afghans is a people-to-people project that knits and crochets wool garments as a practical gesture of friendship and respect for the people of Afghanistan. In partnership with the San Francisco office of the American Friends Service Committee, our project started in late 2001 in response to the war that unfolded after 9/11. This follows a long-time tradition of knitting for others at times of war and crisis. Afghan families still need to know that we care. Join us here for camaraderie, inspiration, and mutual support with projects.

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